Guest post by Laurence Verga
After the absolute debacle that was NY-23, you would think the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) would learn from its mistakes and stop supporting liberal candidates, especially in primaries.
Unfortunately they have not.
I know this because the NRCC has endorsed my most liberal opponent for the Republican nomination, State Senator Robert Hurt, in Virginia’s 5th district race against freshman Congressman Tom Perriello, one of the most vulnerable Democrats in 2010.
Hurt voted for then-Democratic Governor Mark Warner’s $1.4 billion tax increase, the largest in Virginia history, at a time when there was a surplus. Also troubling is his vote for outgoing Democratic Governor Tim Kaine’s unconstitutional transportation law that the State Supreme Court unanimously ruled unconstitutional for imposing a system of taxation without representation.
Although the NRCC is now hinting that it won’t “publicly endorse” Hurt, I have found out from my meetings with many Congressman and political reporters on Capitol Hill that they are clearly backing and significant pushing my opponent.
However, I didn’t need to go to the Capitol Hill to know this. Every article written on the VA-5 race mentions Sen. Hurt as if he was the only candidate, with the NRCC publicly defending his record.
Worse, an election memo they sent out a day after Gov.-Elect Bob McDonnell’s landslide victory says that incumbent Congressman Perriello’s general election opponent is State Senator Robert Hurt – more than six months before the nomination is decided. NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions has also sent out emails bragging about the candidates he’s recruiting, including Hurt among the bunch.
If all the above isn’t evidence of an endorsement, than the word has lost all meaning. While politicos in Washington, D.C. can play their games of semantics, the citizens of the 5th District understand what’s going on. I’ve heard their discontent with the NRCC time and time again on the campaign trail.
The NRCC should take a page out of Hurt’s playbook as a legislator and campaigner and do nothing.
Hurt’s record in the Virginia legislature is about as notable as the Washington Redskins’ performance this season. While he criticizes Congressman Perriello for his PelosiCare vote, he has failed as a legislator to introduce any bills for the proven state-level free-market reforms that reduce health care costs.
On the campaign trail thus far, he’s been equally inactive. He has failed to organize any public events of his own, take a stand on any policy issues of the day besides Perriello’s initial vote for PelosiCare, and his website only has a welcome page with his biography.
When Hurt has been active, he’s hurt Virginia families with higher taxes and more government intervention. However, Hurt can’t hurt us when he’s inactive.
The same is true of the NRCC. They hurt our country with their activity in NY-23, but they can’t hurt us when they’re inactive.
They should both do nothing and let principled conservatives freely fight for the Republican nomination.
I ask conservatives across the country to join the fight and get involved in my race for two reasons.
First, to send a loud and clear message to the seemingly deaf NRCC that the path to a congressional majority is running candidates that are the starkest contrast with the Democrat’s damaging liberal agenda.
Just imagine Hurt trying to challenge Perriello on the Cap and Trade and PelosiCare taxes he’s supported. Perriello will easily respond “Who are you to talk about tax increases, you voted for the largest one in Virginia history?”
Second, to send the message that the national party should stay out of primaries. Free, fair, and local competition not only produces the best candidates, but follows the conservative principle of federalism where the maximum amount of decisions are made at the local level while few decisions are made at the national level.
Thomas Jefferson, a native of the 5th Congressional District, was a strong proponent of the principle, writing “It is an axiom in my mind that our liberty can never be safe but in the hands of the people themselves. Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone.”
With your help we can send the NRCC a strong message that we don’t want Virginia’s 5th district to be another NY-23. They should take a page out of Hurt’s playbook and do nothing.
Laurence Verga is a small business owner based in Charlottesville, VA and a Republican candidate for Congress. He may be reached via his website: http://www.vergaforcongress.com.
Ed Note: Verga also appeared on the Laura Ingraham show. You can listen to his appearance here.
